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Japanese Economy Needs More Pain for More
Gain

Updated Sept. 18, 2003 12:01 a.m. ET

In regard to your Sept. 10 editorial "Japan Gets a Pulse": A little sign of Japan's economic recovery could be a dangerous thing. The economic wreck of the past decade has not resulted in the necessary drastic measures. The Japanese people are patient, but this kind of patience is not a virtue. They should have been very angry at the government and demanded more.

The supposedly reform-minded Messrs. Koizumi and Takenaka, after facing opposition from bankers and others, eventually gave in and watered down the...